New Hampton Tribune

James "J" A. Olsen Dies At 40

Thu, 09/29/2016 - 11:08amRuth

James "J" A. Olsen, age 40, of Alta Vista died Monday, Sept. 26, 2016, from injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident in rural Chickasaw County.A Celebration of Life will be held 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016, at the Congregational United Church of Christ, New Hampton, with Rev. Paul Pickar presiding. Military Honors will be conducted by the Alta Vista American Legion Post. Private burial will take place at a later date.Friends may greet the family 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, 2016, at the Hugeback - Johnson Funeral Home in New Hampton. Visitation continues an hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Online condolences for James' family may be left at hugebackfuneralhome.comJames “J” Arnold Olsen was born Dec. 22, 1975, in Rochester, Minn., the son of Richard and Carolyn (Mundfrom) Olsen. He received his education in Chatfield, Minn., graduating from high school there in 1995. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1997 and was stationed in South Korea for a year and was later discharged from Ft. Lewis in Washington State. He then joined the Army Reserves and served from 2005–2006 in Kuwait. He then worked construction and was an over-the-road truck driver. In 2014, he moved to Alta Vista, and began working for the Tri-Mark Corporation in New Hampton and more recently in April of this year began driving for Croell Redi-Mix. On June 13, 2015, at the Congregational United Church of Christ in New Hampton, he married Angela Pepin and the family became one. “J” was always busy, when he wasn’t working, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping and collecting Star Wars memorabilia. He will be dearly missed by his wife, children, family and friends.Survivors include his wife, Angela; his children, Kaley Loger of Decorah, Colten Hanson and McKenzie Hanson of Alta Vista; his parents, Richard and Carolyn Olsen of Chatfield, Minn.; one sister, Christina (Richard) Orchard of Rochester; three brothers, Paul Olsen of Chatfield, Mark (Kristin) Olsen of Spring Grove, Minn., Ron (Rachel) Olsen of Blooming Prairie, Minn.; his father and mother-in-law, Ron Pepin of North Branch, Minn., Lynette McCabe of Charles City. He was also loved by many in-laws and numerous nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his grandparents.